Share and Follow
Grime music star Wiley has reportedly had to give back his MBE.
Wiley, whose real name is Richard Kylea Cowie Jr and is often referred to as the godfather of grime, was honoured for his services to music in 2017. He shared his approval on social media at the time, writing “Big up the Queen” after the announcement his MBE was made public.
A list published on the Cabinet Office website said the award had been forfeited this month.
At the time, the 45-year-old from Bow, east London, said the honour was like receiving “the school grade I wanted and didn’t get”.
He told the PA news agency: “I’m honoured to be receiving an MBE.
“It feels like the school grade I wanted and didn’t get but now I’m finally there.”
He found himself in controversy in July 2020 after he launched an anti-Semitic Twitter rant.
In a statement at the time, Wiley’s manager John Woolf said: “To be very clear here. I do not support or condone what Wiley has said today online in any way shape or form.
“I am a proud Jewish man and I am deeply shocked and saddened but what he has chosen to say. I am speaking to key figures in my community in light of today’s tweets.
“This behaviour and hateful speech is not acceptable to me.”
In 2020, Wiley claimed that he didn’t care about the MBE amid a media storm due to antisemitic tweets.
The online posts saw him removed from Twitter (now X) and he was dropped by his management company.
In July that year, the musician told Sky News that he wanted his honour to be revoked.
“I’m not racist, you know? I’m a businessman,” the musician said.
He added: “I wanna apologise for generalising, number one, and I want to apologise for comments that were looked at as anti-Semitic.”
Share and Follow
Source: NewsFinale
